You save so much time and energy when using this pressure cooker. Just make sure you oil the seal each time you use the pressure cooker so it does not dry dry. I use pressure cooker for almost all of my meals. It is truly a time saving device. I just recently learned how to steam rice in the pressure cooker. I also enjoy steamy my vegetables in the pressure cooker as well. The food does taste better when prepared in the pressure cooker. I am as you can so I cannot tell you how or if you can prepare meat in a pressure cooker. But I will say that beans are nice and soft in half the normal cooking time. You can cook the beans soaked or not. It would just take longer to cook dry beans.Just make sure not to over fill the pressure cooker. I once made a cake in the pressure cooker. The cake came out moist. Just make sure the lid is on correctly and the valve is shut properly. You will love this time saver.